Friday, September 17, 2010

Terrible Week

This week has been the week from hell. The only thing that could have made it worse was a death or serious injury. I am not sure if I am kidding.

Monday I was in a car accident driving to work. It was my fault – I was not present for an instant and rear-ended someone in stop-and-go traffic. Yes, I am an idiot and should perhaps no longer drive!

Then we discovered the septic plan for the house we are supposed to close on, on 9/24, has YET to be approved (install was supposed to begin 9/10). The lawyer suggested we need a reality check and thinks our closing is more likely going to be 10/24. We have told our landlord we are moving 10/16-17 – we have scheduled the movers. Our mortgage rate is only locked in until 10/8. We don’t know where the lawyer is getting her info – our realtor directly contradicts it. We started the process of a rate extension if necessary. People keep (helpfully) telling me home buying ranks up there as one of the most stressful things in life – it’s up there with weddings. Thanks, I’ve figured that out!

Tuesday I came home to vomit in the bedroom. Hmmm…I wonder… who did that? It was a small amount of yellow bile and green beans. Took the boys for a walk – about a quarter of the way through the walk Ike stops and starts straining followed by projectile liquid diarrhea. Immediately followed by vomiting up some white foam and the three mini zukes I had given him. Drat! Continue on the walk, more straining and diarrhea.

About three quarters of the way through the walk Ike starts acting very odd. He is on someone’s overgrown yard. He has his nose deep in the grass, walking back and forth, back and forth. Then he gently lies down. What? Pick him up and carry him home. Page Dr. F.

Dr. F prescribes Arsenicum album (Arsen. alb.). Dr. F feels this is a good sign. Homeopathic remedies work much like peeling an onion. After the initial remedy you often see older symptom that then requires a different remedy. Dr. F feels this is the resolution of the Lyme and what Ike has been going through for the past few weeks.

Tuesday night Ike has us up in the middle of the night for a walk. He stays with the in-laws during the day and I leave instructions on how to dose him with the homeopathic remedy.

Wednesday night we are up twice to take him out. I give Dr. F some additional details about Ike’s energy and symptoms in the a.m. and he has me pick up Thuja occidentalis (Thuja Occ.).

Finally Ike’s stomach seems to be settling down. We still have audible gas and “d” but we made it through the night without needing an emergency trip out. No vomiting since Tuesday.

Tuesday and Wednesday felt like far longer than 48 hours. The entire time I was worried sick I was making the wrong decision for my dog. I know if I go to the vet all that will happen is they might do an x-ray to rule out an obstruction and they’ll prescribe flagyl and give him fluids. Yet my anxiety is through the roof. I know homeopathy works, but it the midst of worrying about my dog I doubt so hard core. I guess homeopathy isn’t for the faint of heart. You need a rock-solid practitioner you T-R-U-S-T and even then I find it nerve-wracking.

Yesterday I called the vet’s office to see if I can move Ike’s blood panel from a vet visit early next week to a tech visit this week so the results will be there when the vet returns from vacation. I am told a “patient cannot request blood work.” Huh? I have requested all sorts of stuff at my previous vet’s office. I was so angry I cried after the phone call. I plan on talking to the vet’s other half today who handles a lot of HR like aspects – this is the second incident I have had with this receptionist. I like the vet practice – it is more integrative and progressive. You are $$paying$$ for it and since that is the case I don’t feel like yesterday’s conversation was a good sign. With my old vet everything was a battle, but at least he trusted my judgment and would do blood work when I requested it. Granted this isn’t the vet not trusting me – it is the receptionist/tech (not sure if she is a tech or not).

Today is Friday. I am so relieved. The week is over – finally. This weekend I have a board meeting for my agility club and will be packing. Hopefully dogs will be healthy and I can give Bug some much needed attention. He knows Ike has been under the weather and has been such a good boy. I do think I should buy some lottery tickets – I feel like I am due some good luck!

Oh my gosh, that sounds like such a bad week. So glad you werent seriously hurt in the accident....I had an accident a few years ago that sounds just the same....it happens. I hope Ike has a good weekend, and you do too.....((HUGS)))

Hope you're feeling okay. I was in a similar accident in June (except mine was at 40mph), and I'm STILL dealing with pain in my neck. Hopefully you were driving slower, that your insurance company is wonderful, and there is no pain.

That sucks about the house. It seems like those things never work out the way you plan. I hope you get all of the paperwork squared away and septic gets installed ASAP. That is so frustrating.

I'm really surprised that your vet's office wouldn't do bloodwork when you requested it. That doesn't make any sense. Did she explain why you can't request bloodwork? It doesn't seem like there would be any downside to doing bloodwork (I guess maybe the cost but if you want to pay for it, they should let you!) only the upside of having the results sooner.

You are definitely due for some good luck! And Ike too! Sending positive thoughts that he starts feeling better.

Crystal - thankfully it was at low speed. I cannot imagine it at 40 miles an hour. That must have scared the crap out of you. I hope you are healing okay.

Hey Blue - No, she did not say if there was a policy that patients can't request blood work or something similar. If there is, that is one thing. Or put me on hold and speak to the other vet and then come back. Don't just say, no-no-no.

I spoke with one half on Friday and will speak with the vet on Monday. I am sure she wants to know what is going on in her practice!

I wonder if you could get your vet to put something in your records that says "owner has permission to request blood work and tests prior to appointments" or something similar so you could avoid this issue in the future? I hope you get it sorted out!

About Me

Homeopathy Blog for the Boy

Ike

Silvermist Icebreaker NAC, CL1-R CL1-H (CGC TDI)

Ike is the first dog that is purely my own. We have overcome some big hurdles with his fear of people (how can you avoid them!) and continue to work on building our confidence in the sport of agility. Ike takes life at a much slower speed than I do, which is a challenge. My goal for our partnership is to figure out a sport or joint activity that Ike and I can enjoy equally and excel at together. This would be in addition to Ike's #1 sport, lounging on the couch; which I don't really enjoy or excel at.

Carmen

Carmen is a 9 yo salt-n-pepper Miniature Schnauzer from the same breeder as Ike. I started working with Carmen in the winter of '08 after my DH told me we could not get another dog until the end of 2008 (enter Bug 5/08). Little did I know how much joy she would take in agility and what a spitfire she would be. We are having a ton of fun working together. Unfortunately, Carmen was diagnosed with PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) in 10/08 and has been retired as her vision continues to change.

Bug (Honor)

CH Visions Cornerstone Dream On (CGC) TN-N

Bug (fka Honor) is a 5 year old CWC. He is a blue merle with tan points, a LOVELY temperament and a great work ethic. He finished his AKC championship 7/3/2010. Bug is looking forward to playing in Rally Obedience and tracking/Noseworks.